Developer, Coder, or Engineer: What’s your preferred job title?

What’s in a name? Nomenclature wars sound a little medieval for tech and yet… is there really a difference between coder, developer, software engineer, or programmer? It seems like every time we turn around, there’s another new job we’re all supposed to be doing. Code Architect? Software Gardener? Programming Ninja? I wasn’t trained for this!

Job titles are important. They tell people what you do and make your resume look real spiffy. But in the iconoclastic world of tech, things have gotten a little out of hand. From the original “computer” girls to programmers and software engineers, the field has a surplus of titles for what is essentially the same job. But is there an actual difference between the titles?

Well, no. It’s distinction without much difference, really.

The differences between software engineer and programmer are more of a circle than a Venn diagram. Same with coder, architect, developer, and all the other crazy names out there.

The influx of names can be tied directly to start-up culture: in their effort to show how cool and different this new disrupter is, they give their staff fun names and go with it. This is why we can find people with Node Badass or Digital Prophet on their LinkedIn page.